Originally Posted by NZ Climber

Good on you. Contrary to the mostly cautionary and/or negative posts i've been doing, here are my positives about NZ:

The scenery is amazing and massively varied
The volcanoes are cool
The sea is warm
The beaches are beautiful and empty
Camping/Staying in holiday parks is cheap
The lifestyle is more relaxed
The rat race is far less stressful than it was in London
When you get out of Auckland, the country is empty
The islands are brilliant
I spend more time with my better half
Going and visiting places just for the weekend will probably never lose its charm
Xmas in shorts and sunnies on the beach is bizarre but brilliant
Having people to visit means so much more
I have a better relationship with my parents now than I did before we left
I speak to my parents more often now than I did when we were in the UK
Presents for people are easy, something typically NZ always goes down well
You can ski and snowboard on a volcano
The weather is mild
The rain all comes at once and grey days are less common
There are no land based predators or poisonous insects
Having palm trees and cacti in your garden is next to impossible in the UK
The kiwi (bird) is very amusing
Summer seems to last forever
The sun is properly hot, not wishy washy like the UK
People towing boats and caravans actually pull over to let you past

And the very best thing:

We live by the beach, I commute to work on the ferry and we can drive to the mountain to go snowboarding in 4 and a half hours, it doesn't get any better than that.

Originally Posted by mumomonty

The scenery looks like Wales - I quite like Wales
The people here are amazingly friendly and keep offering me horses to ride
The cat and dog can run about with no fear of snakes, killer ticks etc. lik when I lived in Oz
When the sun does come out (not much in Waikato) it is more like spring than winter
The kiwis have a good sense of humour

that was good for me wasn't it?

Originally Posted by Smiler

Hi Sarah
Is that Maraitai Boat Club? Our friends are members and there are a load of us coming over to the Ball in September. Are you going? Would be great - we can meet up
Ginni

Originally Posted by ElizabethC

nice post mumomonty. Beautiful sunny day here today, warm too.

Originally Posted by SarahB

OK, this is my postitive post... some the things I like about living in NZ ... bearing in mind Ive only been here 2 months!!

I like the mild winter weather.
I dont have to wear a coat.
I can take my toddler to play down in the park in the middle of winter!
I love living near the sea.
I love to watch my toddler building sandcastles on the beach.
I like the local butchers shop...the pork sausages they make are really good!!
The local bakers is even better....Ive never had a steak pie with so much real steak in it!
I like having the sea views from the house we rent.
I like the countryside round here, and we are only 20 minutes outside Auckland.
I like seeing all the different flowers and trees.
I like being 5 minutes walk from the beach.
hehe...just asked my OH and we both agree that the chocolate muffins from Woolworths are out of this world...yummm!!
I like the friendly people...even out on a walk everybody says Hello to you...or stops to chat.
I like the beer down the local Boat club!
I like the wider roads... ermm... not gonna mention the road rules! lol
I like my top loader washing machine and the dishwashing drawers are great...how sad am I?!
I like being able to dry my clothes without using the tumble dryer.
The price of petrol is still pretty good.
I like the free swimming pools so that I can teach my toddler how to swim properly.

This was difficult for me as Ive only been here 5 minutes and yeah this is only my opinion. I have loads of negatives too obviously but felt we needed some positives for a change.

Originally Posted by Batty

I had lunch today sitting outside in the sunshine sipping a glass of wine and I couldn't believe that this was the equivalent of Februrary at home

Originally Posted by SarahB

I cannot believe it too!! It was supposed to be 17 today but my thermometer here out on the decking said 24 at lunchtime. My OH popped out after work to buy some wooden garden furniture so we can start sitting outside a bit. I was invited out to meet other mums at lunchtime and we sat in the back garden of the cafe in the sun drinking white hot chocolate drinks with cream and marshmallows....and a piece of cake!.... it was so unbelievable lovely to be able to sit there in the sun!! I've noticed that magnolias and some daffodils are out and as I walked to the cafe there were some white flowers on a bush which smelt so good I had to stop and smell them properly.... how lovely is that!!

Originally Posted by Batty

I know - how mad is it to see daffodils and magnolias in August I'm entranced.